Mateus 16:26

Matthew 16:26

Let us consider why the saying of our Lord in the text, while generally admitted to be true, is yet so little laid to heart.

I. Because we are accustomed to admit freely the incomparable worth of the soul, but without a clear perception of that in which its worth consists. We feel the unique dignity of our own position in creation. We can compare ourselves with the world around us; and it and all that it can offer of possession and power, of enjoyment and honour, is beneath the soul. But in what does this incomparable worth of the soul consist? The only true answer is this: The incomparable value of the soul consists in its being capable of and destined for communion with God in the direct meaning of the word. How few have any definite conception of this. There is but one way in which we can learn it, in the contemplation of Christ.

II. Because we have usually no clear idea of the injury which may happen to our souls. It is not sufficiently clear that there really do exist permanent consequences of a single sinful deed, even of a sinful disposition of mind. That such consequences do exist, we can plainly see in such frightful developments of sin as we find in the hardened criminal. But we do not sufficiently grasp the truth of the words, "He that committeth sin is the servant of sin."

III. Because we so often fail to perceive clearly how we can and ought to care for the salvation of our soul, and because the only successful mode of doing so is not usually pleasing to us. We do not like to admit that the care for our soul must begin with the care for its recovery, because by nature it is diseased. The care for our soul must be a care for our soul's salvation. It consists simply in turning to Christ, in accepting Him by faith, in giving ourselves up to Him in love, and in obedience to the workings of His Word and of His Spirit. By such care for our souls life will not become more painful, it will only be elevated.

R. Rothe, Nachgelassene Predigten, p. 37.

References: Matthew 16:26 . Preacher's Monthly, vol. i., p. 269; J. W. Burgon, Ninety-one Short Sermons, p. 78; S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 14; S. Cox, Expositions, vol. ii., p. 149. Matthew 16:27 . Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 554; B. F. Westcott, The Historic Faith, p. 87; J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 108. Matthew 16:28 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 594.